


One Step Closer

by stardropdream (orphan_account)



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-24
Updated: 2013-02-24
Packaged: 2017-12-03 10:54:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/697489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/stardropdream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karina’s mother would always joke that she was born singing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Step Closer

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on LJ October 8, 2012.

**I.**  
Karina’s mother would always joke that she was born singing. That she could sing before she could talk. She would always tell this joke to family friends over for dinner, which only served to embarrass Karina forever.  
  
But it’s true that her earlier memories are of singing, of toddling beside her parents singing along to the street performers or the music playing in stores.  
  
The music was in her – always is. She couldn’t ignore it then and she can’t ignore it now.  
  
  
 **II.**  
The first moment it really, truly clicked is during a piano recital. After months of practicing, she breaks out into song during her performance – completely unscripted and unexpected.  
  
The audience hushes and not a soul stirs, listening to her song. And perhaps her memory exaggerates when she recalls everyone flying to her feet at the end of it – because she is only seven at the time and prone to hyperbole, but it stays with her all the same.  
  
After all, she knows she wants everyone to hear her.   
  
  
**III.**   
She knows lots of pop stars who got started before they graduated high school, but despite her best efforts, she can’t get anyone to listen to her music. No record label calls her back, gigs fall through – it’s enough to make her scream. But never give up. Never that.  
  
Still, no one will give her a chance.   
  
  
**IV.**  
When her tonsils swell up painfully and it becomes clear she’ll need surgery, she’s terrified. This marks the scariest day of her life up to that point. The idea of her voice changing drastically, or worse, being unable to sing at all, is enough to make her cry.  
  
It all turns out okay, though, even if she stresses for a couple months.   
  
  
**V.**  
Her powers develop at age fifteen. After a particularly brutal open mic night, she stomps home crying. It isn’t until she’s halfway home that she notices her teardrops are making soft clinking noises on the pavement, and when she looks back, there are little frozen drops on the sidewalk.  
  
She doesn’t know how to react but when she makes it home, she feels cold in a way that no sweater or warm bath can correct. It doesn’t make her shiver, but it’s something she’s aware of.  
  
That night, while taking a warm shower in an attempt to warm herself up, although she already knows it’s not good, knows she’s a NEXT, her song breaks against the bathroom walls. There’s something new in her voice, a song meant to be uplifting but only falls into uncertainty and pain. She sounds less like a pop star and more of a blues singer in that moment.  
  
  
 **VI.**  
Eventually the pop returns, but only because it sells more. At first. she has trouble getting into the Blue Rose persona. She feels naked in her uniform and also knows that most of her fans are gross men who buy her merchandise for one reason alone.  
  
But at least she’s singing, which is more than she can say she was doing a year ago. So there’s that.   
  
  
**VII.**  
It’s not always easy. She desires more than anything to sing and only sing. Being a hero is difficult.  
  
But it’s the right thing to do. Kotetsu taught her that. So even if it’s difficult, she’ll do all she can.


End file.
